Vietnam war hero turned war protester. Senator from Massachusetts, only senator elected 4 times without any PAC special interest money. Fights for the middle class, education and the environment. Organized the first Earth Day in 1970. Chaired Senate subcommittee on Iran-Contra and exposed CIA drug smuggling in 1986. Lead a Senate probe that exposed a Pakistan based bank financing terrorists in 1992.
Ran for President in 2004 and lost to a lying criminal.

The Kerry detractor comments are TERRIFYING. Having just graduated from an great prep school I was lucky to be able to attend and finished two consecutive intensive US History and political science courses, these comments seem lifted straight out of everything from the Salem Witch trials to Orwell's 1984.
Someone said that Kerry is wealthier than Bush, and therefore could not legislate in any way benefiting the indigent. This seems almost too ridiculous to be sincere, but factually, all you need to do is look up pending legislation before the Senate Subcomittee on Finance and you'll see a bill Kerry has written this year called the Kids First Act which provides healthcare for children who fall below Medicaid and SCHIP cutoffs by rolling back Bush's taxcuts for people who make over 300, 000 dollars a year.
Erica says that there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Even George W admits that there aren't. You've gotta stop watching so much Fox News, Erica, but it's not just you-- 46 percent of Fox viewers believe that there is a direct link between Iraq and Al-Queda, as compared to only 9 percent of PBS viewers. Also, I don't know where you learned US Government and Policy, but obviously Senators do not have the authority to issue purple hearts to themselves or anyone else.
I'd love Boekenoogen to get back to me about Kerry receiving purple hearts for "splinters" when he gets back from a tour of duty in, say, Tel Aviv, gets shot at by insurgents, and saves a fellow soldiers life. It's not an opinion but a fact that Kerry saved a soldier’s life in the Mekong Delta under fire; his military records were released about a month ago. Yes, he should have released them during the campaign, but he didn't want to kowtow to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth who were OFFICIALLY, FACTUALLY LYING. I agree he was a poor campaigner, but didn't think it would take much to see the character and dignity behind a non-response.
The number of homophobic slurs made by Kerry's detractors speaks for itself.
Kerry does have higher education; he has a JD from BC.
For all the people who said Kerry has no stance on issues, briefly they are (as per the New York Times, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, aka not exceptionally obscure pieces of journalism) federally funded adoption of elimination of SCHIP and Medicaid cutoffs in exchange for states providing coverage for those who fall below 300 percent below the poverty level, making Iraq's borders less porous, making use of the tribal, ethnic and religious militias in Iraq like the Kurdish pesh merga by integrating them into a National-Guard esque force that secures specific provinces, leaving gay marriage up to the states, providing more security for America's borders (under Bush, 95 percent of cargo comes in uninspected), putting more cops on the streets, and paying for it all by rolling back the trillions of dollars in tax cuts Bush has given to the wealthy.
Tradesman seems to be blithely oblivious to reality. He says Kerry isn't a war veteran. Everyone but Tradesman should obviously see that as incorrect. His claim that Kerry can know nothing about fighting for the "little people" shows complete ignorance of the economic theory and applicability behind Bush and Kerry's respective economic policies.
My favorite comment is from John-John. He calls Kerry, "as stupid as they come." He also spells the word, "four" incorrectly.
I find it interesting that some said Democrats are eroding people's basic rights. The Patriot Act was a Donald Rumsfeld slice of 1984, Republicans in office all over the country have mandated teaching creationism in science classes claiming that all viewpoints must be presented, yet forbidden health classes to educate students on contraception, National Identification Cards are under proposal from a Republican Legislature..... Democrats certainly are not interested in infringing upon the factual rights presented in the Bill of Rights.
Anyone who thinks Teresa could fund her husbands campaign any more than Carlyle Group could have funded Bush's doesn't know anything about campaign finance law.
Someone called Teresa a "numbskull." I have to wonder-- do YOU know seven languages?
Radical Republican really did a good job of mocking several other conservative posters' excellent point that Democrats do need to stop mocking everyone who doesn't agree with them as illiterate, inbred rednecks, and that political allegiances shouldn't be based on petty character traits. Mocking Kerry's Boston accent? He's FROM Boston and mocking someone's geographical status completely detracts from the good points made the other Republicans. And before he gets too excited about Iraqi elections, RR should also consider that the Vietcong allowed elections in 1967.
I really like Chester though, who seems to really hate Kerry as.... president. Yep, he actually calls Kerry the president.

I'll be a freshman at Harvard in the fall, and a main reason I chose the school is because I want to work for Kerry in his Boston office. What I, an 18-year-old girl, perceive him to be is clearly different from many other Americans. But my perception is based on extensive questioning my conviction and years of intensive study on the subject of US History and Government. I pride myself on not forming political allegiances based on which candidate is the most affable to the average American voter, and not writing off a candidate because he seems Brahmin or aloof.

John Kerry is a true American who knows that ignoring nuance does not make it go away, and that "When Americans stand up to speak their mind that America can do better, that is not a challenge to patriotism, it is the heart and soul of patriotism."

I cannot think of anything more American than that statement. And to anyone who disagrees with that, I ask you to go back to your history book and look up how America freed itself from colonization and became sovereign. America was BORN of dissent, and from asking the Senate, "how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" to championing dissent in his DNC acceptance speech, nobody understands that more than John Kerry.

I sat on the floor of my empty living room on November 3rd watching Kerry conceed, and after he did, I laid my head down and cried into the floorboards for a good twenty minutes.

John Kerry is a decorated Vietnamveteran, former prosecutor, United States Senator and 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate, who lost to a sitting President during a time of war by a close margin. John Kerry has been in service of others all his life.

Kerry served on a Swift Boat in Vietnam during a period when these boats were used for very dangerous patrols. Kerry saved the life of Jim Rasmussen on one occasion, the lives of his crew on another, and was also responsible for rescuing a number of Vietnamese villagers. Critics who generated partisan attacks on Kerry's military service in 2004, have been largely discredited because of their ties to right-wing groups and acceptance of neocon funding. This kind of dirty politics is now referred to swiftboating, after the group that attacked Kerry.

After Vietnam, Kerry became an anti-war activist. The rancor and division over Vietnam carries into the present. Many Vietnam vets see Kerry as a hero for speaking out, but others retain a bitter hatred toward him because they feel dissent was unpatriotic and that it somehow diminished their service. When Kerry, in his 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke about the torture and atrocities American soldiers claimed to have committed, he was clear in that he was retelling the stories of other veterans. It is a testament to the extreme polarization over Vietnam that, to this day, that fact escapes the attention of those who inaccurately berate Kerry for accusing our military of atrocities.

Prior to becoming a Senator in Massachusetts, John Kerry earned a law degree, served as an assistant prosecutor and Lt. Governor in Mass. He maintains a critical eye towards crime and authored a book about crime and terrorism called The New War in 1997. Kerry's investigative skills were instrumental in breaking the Iran-Contra and BCCI scandal and, in his law enforcement approach to issues of government corruption and terrorism, Kerry remains ahead of the pack in speaking out on issues before they become popular.

Senator Kerry has been campaigning and raising money for Democrats running in 2006, particularly for veterans who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Through his PAC, Keeping Americas Promise, Kerry leads in fundraising for Democrats this election cycle. His e-mail list has grown since 2004 and he is still hugely popular at fundraising and speaking events across the country. People are often surprised when the meet the senator because he is very warm, funny and attractive, contrary to the erroneous impression that was perpetuated in 2004.

Senator Kerry is considering another run for President in 2008. The Senator maintains, however, that the 2006 battle for Congress is the watershed event that will determine the direction of our country and that this year, not 2008, is the priority until after the elections in November.

John Kerry is one of the most personable, down-to-earth, intellectually curious, knowledgeable and compassionate human being I have ever met and there isn't anyone in the world more qualified to be President of the United States of America.

"No American President should be for torture before he's against it." - John Kerry 9/9/06

"I will never conduct a war or start a war because we want to; the United States of America should only go to war because we have to. And if you live by that guidance, you'll never have veterans throwing away their medals or standing up in protest.
John F. Kerry "

"No one is going to question my commitment to the defence of our nation. I don't know what it is these Republicans, who didn't serve in any war, have against those of us who are Democrats who did.
John F. Kerry "

"President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second.
John F. Kerry "

"America now stands as the world's foremost power. We should be proud: Not since the age of the Romans have one people achieved such preeminence. But we are not Romans; we do not seek an empire.
John F. Kerry "

"I believe America's best days are ahead of us because I believe that the future belongs to freedom, not to fear.
John F. Kerry "

John Kerry: a political hero, a brave and a decent man. THis man could have been the one to save our country, to save our freedom, to save our peace and too save countries overall well-being. It is interesting how not one person has mentioned a nice thing about this hero. And how use of dramtization has come to defend in Bush's honor. I dont think anyone reading, or writing on this woould enjoy serving four months in vietnam. He did not leave due to 3 minor injuries, thats malarky. He had no one to defend for him, and there wasnt a way for him to take a shortcut(unlike some) through this war. He had 3 wounds resulting in him having to leave. Now on to the hero part, he has earned Purple hearts, which no matter how you want to say it he earned by risking his life for some one esles, mock that how you want, but its the truth. He then came back to fight for what he had beleived in, peace and he isnt to blame after being in the war, he saw what no man should see: ruthless killing. He fought for something from his heart, and went out of his way to stop it. Once possible to run for congress he did, throughout his career he continued to fight for all those years. He did not just barely "slip" through college, he was a great student, and a leader(in college he learned to speak, also unlike some others). He is in no way a bad person and anyone willing to mock him too partisan and has to make up things to get to a point. In many of you being republicans, as I can see, dont look at someone as a bad person for what they beleive, give them a chance.